Interstate 79


Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare through western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and makes up part of an important corridor to Buffalo, New York, and the border with Canada. Major metropolitan areas connected by I-79 include Charleston and Morgantown in West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, and Erie in Pennsylvania.
In West Virginia, I-79 is known as the Jennings Randolph Expressway, named for Jennings Randolph. In the three most northern counties it is signed as part of the High Tech Corridor. For most of its Pennsylvania stretch, it is known as the Raymond P. Shafer Highway, named for Raymond P. Shafer.

Route description

West Virginia

I-79 begins at a three-way directional Y interchange with Interstate 77 along the northwest bank of the Elk River just northeast of Charleston. For its first, to a point just south of Flatwoods, I-79 is located in the watershed of the Elk River, which drains into the Kanawha River. It crosses the Elk River twice — at Frametown and Sutton - and never strays more than about from it.

Pennsylvania

I-79 enters Pennsylvania after leaving West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. South of Washington, Pennsylvania, I-79 traverses the mostly rural Greene County area.
Between mile markers 34 and 38, I-79 is multiplexed with I-70 in the Washington, Pennsylvania area before heading north towards Pittsburgh.
The freeway into Pittsburgh requires drivers to use I-376 while I-79 completely bypasses the city. Beyond the Pittsburgh area, I-79 traverses more rural areas in Butler, Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford, and Erie counties before arriving at its termination point in Erie. In Erie, I-90 provides an important connection from I-79 to Buffalo, New York and the border with Canada.
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Around the 100-mile marker on the northbound side are two ghost ramps that were specifically built for the Boy Scouts of America in order to have access to Moraine State Park without having to get on U.S. Route 422 for the 1973 and 1977 National Scout Jamborees, which were held at Moraine. The ramps were permanently closed after the 1977 event, but remain in place as of 2017.
I-79 was completely re-built in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1990s.

History

The Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to build two extensions in the 1950s. The Northwestern Extension, authorized in 1953, was to stretch from the main Pennsylvania Turnpike north to Erie, and would have included a lateral connection between Ohio and New York. The Southwestern Extension, authorized in 1955, was to run south from the main line near Pittsburgh to West Virginia, connecting there with an extension of the West Virginia Turnpike. Except for the section between Washington and the Pittsburgh area, which was included as part of Interstate 70, the first portion of I-79 to be added to the plans was north from Pittsburgh to Erie, along the U.S. Route 19 corridor.
In September 1955, two short urban portions were designated:
The number 79 was assigned in 1958, and an extension south along I-70 to Washington and beyond to Charleston was approved on October 18, 1961. This extension also paralleled US 19 to near Sutton, where it turned westerly to reach Charleston.
On December 21, 1967, the first section of I-79 in West Virginia, between Exits 125 and 132, opened to traffic. This five-mile section bypassed part of WV 73 between Bridgeport and Fairmont. Another opened in July 1968, extending the highway on a bypass of downtown Fairmont to Exit 137. It was further extended towards Morgantown on October 15, 1970, bypassing more of WV 73 to Exit 146 south of that city.
On June 29, 1970 the swap of I-79 and I-279 was approved. At the same time, I-76 was extended west from downtown Pittsburgh over former I-79 to the new location of I-79 west of Pittsburgh, so I-279 only ran north from downtown Pittsburgh. On December 3, 1971, I-76 was rerouted to bypass Pittsburgh, and I-279 was extended to I-79 utilizing the former section of I-76. The changes took effect on October 2, 1972.
On June 29, 1973, I-79 was extended from West Virginia Exit 146 to Exit 148, where at one point, traffic was forced onto the newly opened west end of Corridor E to Exit 1. A further extension of, including the Uffington Bridge over the Monongahela River southwest of Morgantown, was opened on August 30, 1973, leading north to Exit 155. This completed I-79 from north of Bridgeport to north of Morgantown.
To the south of Bridgeport, the first two sections were both opened on December 22, 1971. One of these ran from Exit 51 to Exit 62, and the other from Exit 105 to Exit 115. On September 19, 1973, another stretch was opened, from Exit 105 south to Exit 99.
In 1973, significant portions of the interstate were completed. Interstate 79 opened from Exit 62 to Exit 99. Another, from Exit 67 north to Exit 91, opened on November 28, 1973, along with the section from exit 115 north to exit 117, completing the route between Frametown and Morgantown except in the Bridgeport area.
A extension from exit 51 south to exit 46 opened on February 1, 1974, and County Route 11 to WV 4 near Duck was widened to handle the increased load. On the same day, two lanes opened from exit 155 north to the state line.
On October 16, 1974, two pieces of I-79 were opened: the other two lanes of the from exit 155 to the state line, and between exits 117 and 125. On the same day, the eastern end of Corridor D and the western end of Corridor E, both connecting to I-79, were opened. This completed I-79 in West Virginia north of exit 46 ; it was extended south to exit 25 in late November and to U.S. Route 119 north of Clendenin on November 13, 1975. It was opened from exit 19 to exit 9 on November 18, 1977, and finally completed to Interstate 77 in 1979.
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On July 25, 1975, Interstate 79 was opened between exits 1 and 14 in Pennsylvania. The last piece of I-79 between West Virginia and Erie — the Neville Island Bridge over the Ohio River - opened on September 3, 1976.
In late 2008, the "missing ramps" of the I-79/I-376 interchange were completed.
In June 2009, I-376 was extended west and north of downtown Pittsburgh, and I-279 was truncated back to the section only running from downtown Pittsburgh north to I-79.

Exit list

Auxiliary routes